The taiga is one of Vladimir Putin’s favorite spots. Here the Russian head of state sipped tea at a picnic in the snow, climbed mountain peaks, picked berries, collected mushrooms and showed off his bare torso while fishing. The Russian taiga is the chosen place for the Kremlin chief’s official vacation. In front of spectacular natural landscapes, Putin can stage himself as the alpha male who gets the hearts of the sharpest Russian traditionalists beating.
In 2007 the first trip to Siberia took place. The recordings that were made at that time became the subject of numerous memes and are still unforgettable today: Putin with a bare chest. In 2010, the Kremlin chief toured the Russian Republic of Khakassia from horseback. Until a bad fall, the Kremlin boss is said to have had a great passion for horseback riding. In 2013, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu went fishing. Again, half-naked shots of the head of state could not be missing.
And something else has become a tradition since this holiday: the accompaniment by Shoigu. Last year, Putin visited Siberia twice in the company of the defense minister – in March and in September. In the spring they would go rail-riding and have picnics in the snow, and in the fall they would go fishing. In 2019, the President, together with the head of the Defense Ministry, picked mushrooms in the Siberian mountains. In 2018 and 2017 they were together in Tuva. In 2010 and 2007, Putin traveled around Siberia alone. Shoigu was not yet defense minister at the time, but Putin had long been president.
In an interview, Putin’s former companion Sergei Pugachev explained why the president likes to travel with his defense minister: To keep an eye on him and keep him away from the Russian generals. Read more about this here.
In the footsteps of Vladimir Putin
Now supporters of Putin should also have the opportunity to vacation like their beloved president. The head of the Federal Agency for Tourism (Rostourism) presented a number of new tourist routes in Russia during the economic forum in Saint Petersburg. One of them is called “Siberian Vacation” and leads to Putin’s vacation spots. 1.2 billion rubles have been allocated for the development of travel routes this year. In the next, 3.1 billion rubles should be added.
“Rostourism is launching a tourist route to the places where the president likes to vacation,” quotes the head of the agency, Sarina Dogusova. “This is a very special route, there is nothing like it. It runs through the territories of Krasnoyarsk Krai, Khakassia and Tuva. It combines incredibly beautiful nature, diverse ethnicity of Siberian peoples and unique artifacts – Scythian gold, tombs of the Leaders of the prehistoric kingdoms of the middle Yenisei, the places of worship of Buddhism in Tuva,” she enthused.
The first tour groups are to be guided through the taiga as early as next July. The journey along the Putin route takes eight days. The tourists will cover 1200 kilometers.
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Source: Stern
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